Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Disn-A-Thon: Melody Time (1948)

Segments: "Once Upon a Wintertime," two lovers recued from an icy river by friendly animals; "Bumble Boogie," bee beset by musical instruments and symbols come to life; "Johnny Appleseed," story of the legendary pioneer tree-planter; "Trees," mood piece set to musical treatment of Joyce Kilmer's poem; "Little Toot," story of a heroic little tugboat who saves an ocean liner; "Blame it on the Samba," Donald Duck and Jose Carioca have the blues blown away at a Latin cafe; "Pecos Bill," story of the legendary cowpoke, his trusty mount Widowmaker and his sweetheart Slue Foot Sue. [imdb]

Alright, I'm getting a bit tired of these. I am kind of looking forward to the normal movies again. That being said, Melody Time is fun but a bit forgettable compared to the others.

More music-based segments, with some standard vocalists... etc. The big one here though is the Legend of Johnny Appleseed. The classic story of the American folk legend, this stands on its own as a short film. Personally, I don't think it belongs in this package, but excluding it would just leave Melody Time without any reason to exist.

Little Toot is cute and annoying, Blame It On The Samba brings back Donald Duck, José Carioca and the Aracuan bird, and Pecos Bill rounds the whole thing off into a nice little finale.

One little note about Pecos Bill, apparently some scene involving Bill and a cigarette was cut out... marking one of the few blatant editting jobs in a Disney cartoon.

Alright, on to the last package film, and then I can get on with the movies!